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Everybody who as a personality does that, regardless of race or background.
True.
But i just can't see any abandonment on my part of what's considered "black culture," whatever the hell that means. To me, black folks are already well assimilated into the culture at large.
It's funny that people are discussing hip hop as if it leads to crime. The biggest fans of hip hop and rap I know are White suburban kids. Granted, most of friends are White, so there is that. However, just two weeks ago I went to an underground hip hop concert in Hongdae, here in Seoul.
Hip Hop, like any music genre, has its good and its bad. Hip hop does not encourage violence any more or less than rock. The fact of the matter is that hip hop is not a factor in the lowered standard of living for African Americans. Period.
BET is no better or worse than any other cable network.
I find it odd that nobody goes on the offensive for punk rock or heavy metal. However, hip hop and rap get a bad "rap" since it is often only characterized with poverty (despite the fact that it's an international genre with many respectable artists and a lot of crossover with other musical styles).
Okay, I know, folks in this forum have been waiting for me to say something about this. People are reading some of these posts and saying, "Gosh, I wonder what Galileo Smith is gonna say." Alright, here it goes.
First, as to the thread itself. I think race-based subjects are fascinating. There are so many facets to America's race relations. Having said that, it is very difficult to find a decent conversation. It's a tightrope sort of thing. Either people are talking about race relations out of some sort of spite, or they are talking politically correctly and not delving into the problems of race relations. Point is, I look at these threads, and the posts therein, with suspicion. I ask a "why?" to every post. What is the poster's motive, I wonder. Anyway, it kind of hurts the flow of things.
I'm about a zillion years old in internet years. Sixty in human years. I remember when the Rolling stones sang, Let's Spend the Night Together. That was 1967. It took me another four years before I could find a girl who would spend the night with me. And even during that night sex was minimal. What I'm saying is, I'm not sure how much sway music lyrics have in society. I suppose violent lyrics can't be good. When heavy metal came along, I quit listening. I turned to jazz.
Having said all of that, I have said repeated both in this forum and out, that blacks need to forgo significant elements of the culture and their confining communities and neighborhoods. They need to join the mainstream culture. Assimilate 100%. No BET. No Ebony Magazine. Jettison the African-American Hikers Club. No more "acting white" mentality. On the other side of the coin, mainstream culture has to be 100% accepting and ready for a cultural integration. No white flight. Kids, regardless of color, go to public schools and sit alongside each other.
Many blacks have stepped away from black culture. Broken the ties, so to speak. Heck, I saw on a Facebook page a picture of a white guy and his black fiance. They were embracing and smiling brightly. It looked natural because they had made it natural. It not only looked natural, but it looked both hopeful and good.
Hip Hop, like any music genre, has its good and its bad. Hip hop does not encourage violence any more or less than rock. The fact of the matter is that hip hop is not a factor in the lowered standard of living for African Americans. Period.
That's just not true. Granted there is some good rap and some bad rock, if we were to average out the amount violence and disrespect of women in "gangster" rap and rock we both know which one would be worse.
Everybody who as a personality does that, regardless of race or background.
There's a difference between personal individuality and cultural individuality. You can assimilate into mainstream culture and still be an individual. By not assimilating you're not being more of an individual, you're just conforming to a smaller subgroup.
That's just not true. Granted there is some good rap and some bad rock, if we were to average out the amount violence and disrespect of women in "gangster" rap and rock we both know which one would be worse.
How many underground hip hop shows in Paris, Seoul, New York, Los Angeles, Geneva, and Santa Barbara have you been to? I think I know what I'm talking about...
Nah...i just can't do it. I've assimilated into the American culture, but i still must remain who i am. Nevermind BET or Ebony...few blacks see or read that stuff anyway. Black folks shouldn't jettison their clubs because those clubs were created out of necessity.
Well, I've gone at this with you before. Blacks need to break the ties with contemporary black culture. Black-based clubs work to make that culture survive. A socially acceptable white club, just like those segregated drinking fountains, give a nod of approval to racial segregation. Why black clubs were organized in the first place is 100% irrelevant. If the reason is not already obsolete, then work to make them 100% obsolete.
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